Royal wives seek new role in monarchies (Agencies/China Daily) Updated: 2004-07-13 08:36

Once upon a time there were two unhappy princesses caught in the media
spotlight.

One princess suffered a broken marriage but found solace in a role as a
celebrity envoy.

Combination photo
shows Japan's Crown Princess Masako (L) at a garden party in Tokyo in a
October 30, 2003 file photo and Diana, the late Princess of Wales, in
Washington in an undated file photo.
[Reuters/files]

The second had a publicly supportive husband but yearned for work as a royal
diplomat.

Britain's Princess Diana and Japan's Princess Masako have faced starkly
different problems as royal wives, but they shared the challenge of reconciling
the aspirations of modern women with the demands of an ancient monarchy.

Do their lives show that discord and despair are occupational hazards for
crown princesses in an age of women's rights?

Diana carried out her dynastic duty within four years of marriage to Prince
Charles, giving birth to a male "heir and a spare" to carry on the royal
lineage.

She went on to develop a career as a royal advocate for the sick and the
needy, becoming so popular she was accused of upstaging her husband.

Japan's Crown Princess Masako gave up a career as diplomat to become a royal
wife, only to spend her 11 years of marriage under intense pressure to produce
an heir.

A daughter born in 2001 has not stilled the clamour for imperial infants, as
Japanese law bars women from ascending the throne.

The story lines may diverge but both highlight a clash between modern values
and a system that traditionally expected royal wives to produce many sons, stay
meekly in the shadow of their husbands, and bear any marital distress in stoic
silence.

To love and honour

When female royals are unable or unwilling to play their conventional roles,
a crisis erupts that can put pressure on monarchies to reform or update their
image, royal-watchers say.

"There's definitely some real tension there," said Professor Kenneth Ruoff,
director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at Portland State University, of
Masako's position as an educated and talented woman in an ancient royal court.

"Masako does not see herself as a womb or a baby machine. She sees herself in
a diplomatic role."

In the past, Japanese princes could take concubines to satisfy their passions
or even produce heirs, as only the male bloodline mattered to the Chrysanthemum
throne.

But a modern monarchy with an image as an ideal family can no longer resort
to a sexual surrogate, so the law will probably have to be changed to allow
reigning empresses, Ruoff says, despite worries about finding a future spouse
for a female heir.

With no royal sons born since 1965, the imperial family faces the end of the
unbroken male line after Crown Prince Naruhito and his younger brother Akishino.

Monarchists could wait to see if a minor female royal bears a son or push for
more branches of the family to be eligible for the throne, but these options
would probably be less popular than crowning a female monarch.

The belief that marriage is a faithful partnership of equals has also made it
harder for British royals to supplement a dynastic alliance with an illicit love
relationship.

Princess Diana refused to tolerate a straying husband although she knew her
dissent would rock the House of Windsor.

"Many of us recognized Diana's expectations of the more democratic deal won
by women in the 20th century," wrote royal biographer Beatrix Campbell in a
British media commentary about the princess, who died in a car crash a year
after her divorce.

But some royal experts caution against typecasting the two princesses as
helpless victims of feudal systems, as both monarchies have shown an ability to
evolve with the times.

Masako might have been allowed to develop a role as a royal ambassador if her
marriage had been as fertile as Diana's.

Despite her undeniable pain, Princess Diana enjoyed many benefits from her
royal position, including fame, fortune and enough freedom to take discreet
pleasures.

The Japanese royal family owns no personal wealth, making it hard for the
40-year-old crown princess to take up private causes or indulge in retail
therapy in the style of jet-setting European royalty.

The seclusion of the Japanese court also allows conflicting rumours to
flourish, with talk of a marital rift or a united push by the couple to reform
the system for their daughter's sake.

As the British royal saga showed, some of the stories in the scandal sheets
can turn out to be accurate, whatever the palace says.

Prince Naruhito recently spoke out against the pressure on his dejected wife,
asking for her to be granted a more challenging role when she regains her
spirits.

"Basically it's a direct appeal to the people," said Ruoff, who sees the
remarks as a signal the couple will not try for another child.

Brighter future

But the prospects for all royal wives need not be so grim.

Experts say Masako would have had an easier time in continental Europe, where
the royals are encouraged to lead productive lives and must only bear one child
to deliver an heir.

Some liberal monarchies such as Sweden and Belgium confer the crown on the
first-born, regardless of gender.

Others, including Britain, allow a daughter to reign if the monarch had no
sons.

Thus, royalists rebut talk of gender bias by noting that monarchies created
strong female role models long before feminism and still produce more women
leaders than democracies.

But equal opportunities have their limits even in the most progressive of
monarchies, as the women must still bear the babies.

"European monarchies are more compatible with a flexible and modern female
identity," said Neil Blain, a media professor at the University of Paisley in
Scotland and co-author of a study of European royalty.

"But monarchy is always going to be somewhat limiting for a woman because
it's an archaic survival."

Despite the tough job requirements, Europe's monarchies have just recruited
two accomplished princesses in a summer of wedding pageants, gorgeous gowns and
media exuberance.

Letizia Ortiz, the bride of Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, was a TV presenter.
Australian Mary Donaldson, the new crown princess of Denmark, worked in
advertising and real estate.

As media professionals they are well-qualified to cope with public life, but
multi-lingual Masako was also once hailed as a role model for modern women.

The fairytale still took a sad turn.

European monarchists are celebrating a royal baby boom as well as wedding
season.

With the latest arrivals, the heir apparents in Norway, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Sweden are all female.

If Masako's daughter Aiko is eventually crowned empress, she may find the key
royal challenge of the 21st century is to find men who are content to be royal
husbands.